CN111465565B

CN111465565B - Device for unstacking and spreading out bagged medicine

Info

Publication number: CN111465565B
Application number: CN201880077357.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 威廉·兰格玛特
Original assignee: Zwis Holdings Ltd
Current assignee: Zwis Holdings Ltd
Priority date: 2017-11-30
Filing date: 2018-11-22
Publication date: 2022-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-22
Also published as: EP3717383B1; CA3083448A1; JP2021504270A; NL1042664B1; US20200281817A1; EP3717383A1; JP7337392B2; WO2019108057A1; US11318070B2; KR20200088888A; AU2018375504A1; CN111465565A

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for de-stacking and unrolling bags (2) filled with drugs, the bags being arranged in series in a strip-like drug coil (101), the device comprising a conveyor track (102) configured to convey unrolled bags of the drug coil, wherein the conveyor track comprises sections over which the bags are movable, and during operation the bottom side of at least one bag rests against the upper side of the section, and the sections comprise means for de-stacking and unrolling drugs in bags placed on the sections during operation, wherein the device is configured to cooperate with means for supplying or feeding out drug coils via the conveyor track.

Description

Device for unstacking and spreading out bagged medicine

Technical Field

The invention relates to a device for unstacking and unrolling bagged or packaged medications, the bags being arranged in succession in a strip-like roll of medication, the device comprising a conveyor track configured to convey unrolled bags of the roll of medication, the conveyor track comprising a section over which the bags are displaceable, and during operation the bottom side of at least one bag resting against the upper side of the section, and the section comprising means for unstacking and unrolling medications in bags placed on the section during operation, wherein the device is configured to cooperate with means for supplying or feeding out a roll of medication via the conveyor track.

Background

Various machines are commercially available which use a vision system to automatically inspect the contents of the bag, including for example pills, tablets and/or capsules, for the specific type and quantity of these pills, tablets and/or capsules. These machines are also referred to below as inspection machines.

The use of drug rolls has long been known in the art, wherein the drug is packaged in a bag for each patient, each day and each intake, and wherein a plurality of bags are interconnected as a strip.

For example, in the case of two tablets in a bag stacked, the automatic vision system may detect only one tablet at the time of counting and thus give an error message, which when inspected by a person will prove to be a so-called false error message. Two tablets, pills and/or capsules lying locally against one another can also be regarded by the checking machine as objects whose shape cannot be recognized, which can also lead to false error messages. It is obvious that such false error messages unnecessarily require more time and more manual intervention. As a result, false error messages also increase the cost of the entire process of packaging the medication for the patient in a medication roll (also referred to in practice as a hundred roll after the first company applies this medication packaging method). It is also possible that the inspection machine evaluates the content of the bag as to the number and type of drugs in conformity with the standard, but that, for example due to a stack of drugs, there is more than one tablet in the bag of a certain drug, which tablet is ignored by the inspection machine due to the stack. This is a pseudo error-free message. This may result in overdosing, which may be a risk to the patient.

In addition to being caused by stacked medications, the inspection of the contents of the bag with an inspection machine can also result in false error messages when individual pills, tablets and/or capsules are not sufficiently dispersed on the surface of the bag. In this case, the inspection machine may, for example, consider two pills, tablets and/or capsules that are in close proximity to one another as objects having an unknown shape.

In commonly commercially available inspection machines, a reel wound with a drug strip roll is rotatably placed around a shaft or axle-like member and the free outer end of the drug strip roll is fed into the machine and transported through the inspection machine provided with a camera unit by means of a transport system, e.g. a cylinder or a roller.

A disadvantage of the various bag transfer systems of the known inspection machines is that during bag travel, a pulling force may be exerted on the bags in some way or other, whereby the lower and upper side of the bags tend to move towards each other and the tablets, pills and/or capsules that can be stacked on each other are thereby pressed together by additional force.

Since the force required to unwind a roll of medicament must be generated in some inspection machines by exerting a pulling force on the bag, the force pressing the medicament together may be relatively high.

It has been found that it is not easy to de-stack the medicament without this adversely affecting the testing process in the testing machine or risking damage to the medicament. For destacking or at least attempting destacking, in various prior art systems a support surface is applied on which the bags are guided and which is mounted on a vibration system, also in which system the tape formed by the bags is unwound by driving the reels with a motor.

In practice it has been found that when such a vibrating support surface is applied, the surface vibration amplitude must be relatively high in order to de-stack a large portion of the stacked medicament. This leads to an increased risk of drug damage.

The known devices each comprise a plate-shaped section in the conveying track, which is placed on a vibration mechanism, whereby the plate-shaped section can be set into overall vibration. It will be apparent to the skilled person that by de-stacking the pills, tablets and/or capsules located in the pockets in this manner, a relatively large number of stacked pills, tablets and/or capsules will not be de-stacked, even if very high vibration amplitudes and frequencies are applied.

Damage also occurs relatively frequently. The applicant of the present patent application has provided him with the insight, using various tests and observations made with video images of slow motion play, that contacting the bag with the vibrating plate will generally form the unstacking and unrolling to only a limited extent.

Disclosure of Invention

The device according to the invention provides a reliable solution with a high degree of spreading and destacking of the drugs and a low risk of damage, without the drawbacks of the prior art devices described above. The device according to the invention provides a solution which at least substantially excludes the possibility of false and false-error-free information of the inspection machine caused by a stack and insufficient unrolling of the drug.

To this end, the invention provides a device according to the preamble, characterized in that the means for destacking and spreading out the doses comprise an eccentric track comprising a plurality of eccentric shafts placed adjacent to each other, each shaft being arranged substantially at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the conveying track, each eccentric shaft comprising one or more eccentric wheels. The distance between successive eccentric shafts is selected here such that the peripheries of the eccentric shafts overlap one another, viewed in the transverse direction of the segments, and at least one eccentric shaft can be driven by means of a drive motor.

These technical measures have the technical effect that at each position of the bag, either in the length or in the width of the bag, the bags are flapped in different ways.

In an embodiment of the device according to the invention, the eccentric wheel or wheels can slide through the length of the eccentric shaft, rotate around the eccentric shaft and can be fixed to the eccentric shaft.

In another embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device comprises at least one fan located above or below the eccentric track to keep the bags in contact with the eccentric track.

In a straightforward embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device comprises at least one fan located above and/or below the eccentric track, wherein the suction side of each fan located above the eccentric track and the suction side of each fan located below the eccentric track are both directed towards the eccentric track. Due to these measures, the device is able to pull the upper and lower film layers of the bag apart, thereby creating a space in the bag. The stacked tablets can thus be better de-stacked. Very thin flexible films are sometimes used to make the bags. There may also be little air within the bag herein. Because the film is very thin and flexible, the two film layers deform and the drug becomes as if it were secured between the two deformed film layers. Now also a fan is mounted above the strip of bags, which fan has a suction effect with respect to the strip of bags, the two film layers are pulled apart and a space is created in the bags, so that the medication can move freely. All fans are individually adjustable so that they can be adjusted so that contact between the eccentric and the bag, and thus indirectly with the medicament, is maintained.

In order to ensure that the feeding mechanism always unwinds the drug strip roll sufficiently to avoid tensile stress on the pouches, but at the same time does not unwind to the extent that a stack of pouches is formed under the roll, the device according to the invention preferably comprises a sensor, wherein the device is configured such that during operation, the feeding mechanism is switched off as soon as the sensor detects that a pouch is in close proximity to the sensor.

In an alternative embodiment of the device according to the invention, the drive motor drives one of the eccentric shafts, wherein the other shafts can also be driven by means of drive wheels which are pressed against each other and are made of, for example, rubber or another elastically deformable material. In this drive form, adjacent eccentric shafts have opposite directions of rotation.

In a further embodiment of the device according to the invention, the device comprises at least one eccentric shaft on which an eccentric is mounted obliquely. This achieves the effect that when the eccentric comes into contact with the bag, it not only lifts the bag, but at the same time performs a transverse movement, i.e. a movement in the width direction of the bag. The latter effect may be particularly useful in destacking and dispensing certain types of medications.

Drawings

The device according to the invention will now be discussed with reference to several drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective front view of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic, partially cross-sectional elevational view of the embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective rear view schematic of the embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective detail view of the eccentric track of the device with a bag placed thereon;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the eccentric track with a bag placed thereon and a fan positioned above the eccentric track;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an eccentric track with bags placed thereon and fans positioned above and below the eccentric track.

In the drawings, the same or similar components have the same or similar reference numerals.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a front perspective view of an embodiment of the device of the present invention. In this embodiment the device comprises a reel 1 together with a tape formed by a bag 2 wound around the reel mandrel. The tape rolled up from the bag (hereinafter also referred to as the drug strip roll) is almost completely unwound in the situation shown in fig. 1, so that the reel is almost empty.

In the case shown in fig. 1, a part of the strip formed by the bags is placed on a conveyor track, which is defined here as an elongated element, over which the strip containing the lying, also called side-lying bags, can be pulled, slid or otherwise pushed towards, for example, an inspection machine or other type of machine, which is usually located on the left side of the device on the basis of the arrangement shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic front view of a part of the embodiment of the device according to the invention shown in fig. 1. The mechanism for supplying or feeding out a drug strip roll (101) via the transport track (102) may preferably comprise a reel 1 for unwinding the drug strip roll by means of a driven drive mechanism, e.g. by means of an electric motor.

The device of the invention thus prevents having to unwind a roll of medicament strip by pulling on the strip formed by the bag. In order to ensure that the drive mechanism always unwinds the drug strip roll sufficiently to avoid tensile stress on the bags, but at the same time does not unwind it to such an extent that a stack of bags is formed below the reel, the device comprises, as seen from the position of the reel 1, at the start of the bag delivery track a sensor 3, for example in the form of a capacitive proximity switch or a light detector, which switches off the drive mechanism as soon as the bag is detected in the immediate vicinity of the sensor.

The invention provides that the control of the drive mechanism that drives the rotation of the reel is designed to adjust the sensitivity of the reel drive mechanism and thus its on-off timing according to the desired position of the bag. Ensuring that the strap is, for example, substantially in a position similar to that shown in figure 2 avoids the creation of tensile stresses on the bag.

At the other outer end, the strip of bags is further conveyed through a machine downstream of the device, such as a conveying system like an inspection machine, for example.

Fig. 3 is a partial perspective rear view schematic of the embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention shown in fig. 1. In fig. 3, the two pockets 2 of the drug strip roll located in front are visible when lying on the eccentric track 4, which forms a section in the conveying track of the device. Fig. 3 also shows the drive motor 5 for the shaft of the eccentric track 4, which will be discussed further below. In this embodiment, the drive motor drives one of the shafts of the eccentric track 4, wherein the other shafts are likewise driven by means of drive wheels 6 which are pressed against one another and are made of, for example, rubber or another elastically deformable material. In this drive form, adjacent eccentric shafts have mutually opposite directions of rotation.

The invention provides that the shafts of the eccentric tracks 4 can also be driven in any other possible way, such as for example by means of a drive belt or a chain, wherein all eccentric shafts can also have the same direction of rotation.

Fig. 3 also shows the rear side of the reel 1 and the reel drive mechanism 7 of an embodiment of the device according to the invention.

Fig. 4 is a partially cut-away detailed perspective view of the eccentric track 4 of the device on which the bags from the strip comprising them lie. For simplicity, the medicament in the bag is not shown.

It has finally been found that a solution to the drawbacks of the known devices is to clap the bag differently at a plurality of positions in the length and width of the bag. In order to achieve this solution, the device of the invention comprises an eccentric track 4 comprising a plurality of eccentric shafts 8 which are rotatably constructed, wherein each shaft comprises one or more eccentrics 9 which are non-rotatable relative to the shaft and are distributed along the length of the shaft which substantially corresponds to the width of the bag travelling on the eccentric track. In an embodiment one or more of said eccentric shafts 8 are made of hexagonal rod-shaped material.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the eccentric shaft 8 comprises a partially machined hexagonal material, which gives the shaft the appearance of a dodecagonal rod-shaped material as shown. Of these twelve sides, only six sides were straight and the other six sides were machined convex.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the eccentric 9 comprises a circular disc with an eccentrically arranged circular hole conforming to the diameter of the eccentric shaft.

In order to prevent rotation and unintended axial displacement of the eccentric, the eccentric may be provided with, for example, a countersunk locking screw, which may engage the eccentric shaft, for example, at one of six flat sides. In the part of the eccentric orbit embodiment shown in fig. 4, the eccentric shafts are positioned very close to each other so that the circles drawn by the extreme points of the eccentrics mounted on two adjacent eccentric shafts during rotation of the shaft overlap each other.

In this configuration, the eccentric wheels on two adjacent eccentric shafts would therefore have to be mounted offset relative to one another in the longitudinal direction of the eccentric shafts in order to be able to rotate the eccentric shafts.

Other embodiments of the eccentric tracks include eccentric shafts with sufficient mutual spacing between them to allow the shafts to rotate without the need to arrange eccentric wheels axially offset relative to each other on two adjacent eccentric shafts.

When the shaft is rotated, the eccentric will be able to flap at different points on the row of bags in the width direction of the bags at different times. The distance that the corresponding position on the bag is moved upwards when the bag is in contact with the eccentric is in this context, for example, related to the size of the eccentric 9 (also called cam 9) or the position where the eccentric is mounted on the shaft.

In addition to the difference in width direction, the device according to the invention also comprises a difference in length direction of the bag. The intermediate bag, which is shown in fig. 4 in its full length, is supported in the position shown, for example in its length direction, by three eccentric shafts. If each eccentric shaft 8 comprises four eccentric wheels, the number of positions at which the bag surface is flapped during rotation of the eccentric shaft is thus, for example, up to 12.

Although in practice more eccentric shafts will usually be chosen, the invention also provides an embodiment of the device in which the eccentric track 4 comprises only one eccentric shaft 8. The number of eccentrics per shaft can thus be adjusted as desired by the user and can vary from only one to, for example, more than 10 eccentrics on the shaft, depending on the thickness of the eccentrics to be mounted.

The eccentric shown in fig. 4 comprises a disc with eccentric holes, which is slid on the shaft by means of the eccentric holes to mount the eccentric to the shaft.

Of course, the invention provides that the eccentric can also be, for example, rectangular (including square), triangular, hexagonal, elliptical, and any other shape desired or deemed useful, as long as the cam can alternately slap/lift and not slap/lift the bag at a determined frequency as the eccentric rotates.

In the embodiment shown in the figures, the plane formed by the eccentric is arranged substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the eccentric shaft. The invention also includes embodiments in which the plane of the eccentric forms an angle of, for example, 50 degrees, 60 degrees, 70 degrees or 80 degrees or any angle in between with the longitudinal axis of the eccentric shaft on which the eccentric is mounted. This achieves the effect that when the eccentric comes into contact with the bag, it not only lifts the bag, but at the same time performs a lateral movement, i.e. in the direction of the bag width. The latter effect may be particularly useful in destacking and spreading out certain types of medications. An eccentric mounted on an eccentric shaft in this way (i.e. not at right angles) will also be referred to below as an eccentric mounted obliquely on the eccentric shaft.

It has been found that an eccentric track 4 constructed in accordance with the embodiment shown in fig. 4 and discussed herein is particularly effective for destacking and unrolling of pouched medications. When the strip of bags is carried via the eccentric track 4, the bags may tend to start "floating" at least substantially above the eccentric track without further measures. In case of floating, the bag does not come into sufficient contact with the eccentric 9 and the destacking therefore does not proceed optimally.

Prior art machines typically include foam rubber rollers or brushes for holding the bags against their vibrating plates in the conveyor track. In such known machines, this often results in a higher chance of damage to the medicament.

As shown in the sectional embodiment schematically shown in fig. 5, the device according to the invention comprises a new solution to keep the bags in contact with the eccentric track 4. This solution consists of blowing the bag with air in the direction of the eccentric track, i.e. downwards. To this end, the device is provided in an embodiment with three fans 10-1 distributed along the length of the eccentric track comprising twelve eccentric shafts 8.

Of course, the present invention provides for the fan speed and hence fan flow rate to be adjusted, if desired for a single fan. The use of air to create contact between the bag and the eccentric minimizes the possibility of damaging the medication while the bag can still be slapped sufficiently by the eccentric to destack and spread out the potentially stacked medication.

By positioning one or more fans with the suction side up under the eccentric track, a similar effect is achieved as blowing the bags against the eccentric track with air. Thus, reference to one or more fans being located above the eccentric tracks also relates to embodiments in which one or more fans are located below the eccentric tracks.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 5, not all eccentric shafts comprise the same number of eccentrics, on some of which shafts more than two eccentrics have been pushed together at least substantially at the same cam position. The number of possible variants is almost unlimited and the invention provides for the user to change the number and position of the eccentrics by himself. The number of three fans shown in fig. 5 is merely an example and the present invention provides that the apparatus may include more or less than three fans above the eccentric track.

The embodiment of the inventive device (100) shown in fig. 6 comprises three fans (10-2,10-3,10-4) above the eccentric track (4) and three fans (10-5,10-6,10-7) below the eccentric track (4). The suction side of the fan (10-2,10-3,10-4) is directed towards the eccentric track (4). In fig. 6, the blowing directions of these fans (10-2,10-3,10-4) are indicated by upward arrows. The suction side of the fan (10-5,10-6,10-7) is also directed towards the eccentric track (4). In fig. 6, the blowing directions of these fans (10-5,10-6,10-7) are indicated by downward arrows. In contrast to the eccentric 9 shown previously in fig. 1-5, the eccentric 9 is non-circular. The eccentric 9 in fig. 6 has different peripheral shapes including triangular, square, rectangular. The non-circular eccentric 9 can be arranged concentrically or eccentrically on the eccentric shaft 8. This condition applies here to the fact that the eccentric 9, during its rotation about the eccentric shaft 8, comes into contact with the bag containing the drug at a determined frequency.

The term "and/or" refers primarily to one or more objects recited before and after "and/or". The sentence "object 1 and/or object 2" (and similar sentences) may relate, for example, to object 1 and object 2 or to object 1 or object 2. The term "comprising" (or derivatives thereof) also refers to embodiments wherein the term "comprises" means "consisting of … …. Thus, the term "comprising" may mean "consisting of … …" in some cases, but may mean "including at least the defined type and optionally one or more other types" in other cases. In the claims, the use of the word "comprising" or derivatives thereof does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim.

When "substantially at right angles" is used in the description, this may mean forming an angle in the range of at least 85 degrees up to 95 degrees, and preferably in the range of at least 88 degrees up to 92 degrees.

In the specification and claims, the terms "break-up", "disperse" and "spread-out" are synonymous and all refer to an increase in the interstitial space between individual pills, tablets and/or capsules located in a substantially horizontally disposed bag.

The embodiments of the device of the invention discussed in this specification and illustrated in the figures are only a few of the many possible embodiments within the scope of the invention and must therefore be considered as non-limiting.

Claims

1. Device (100) for de-stacking and unrolling pouches (2) filled with medicament, the pouches (2) being arranged in succession in a strip-like medicament strip roll (101), the device comprising a conveyor track (102) of unrolled pouches (2) configured to convey the medicament strip roll (101), wherein the conveyor track (102) comprises sections on which the pouches (2) are movable and during operation the bottom side of at least one pouch (2) rests against the upper side of the section, and the sections comprise means for de-stacking and unrolling medicament in a pouch (2) placed on the section, wherein the device (100) is configured to cooperate with means (1) for supplying or delivering the medicament strip roll (101) via the conveyor track (102), characterized in that the means for de-stacking and unrolling the medicament comprise an eccentric track (4), the eccentric track (4) comprises a plurality of eccentric shafts (8) placed adjacent to each other, each shaft being arranged substantially at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the conveying track (102), each eccentric shaft (8) comprising one or more eccentric wheels (9), and the device (100) comprises at least one fan (10-1,10-2,10-3,10-4,10-5,10-6,10-7) located above or below the eccentric track (4).

2. The device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the successively arranged eccentric shafts (8) is selected such that the peripheries of the eccentric shafts (9) overlap each other seen in the transverse direction of the section and at least one eccentric shaft (8) can be driven by means of the drive motor (5).

3. The device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one or more eccentric wheels (9) are slidable through the length of the eccentric shaft (8), rotatable around the eccentric shaft (8) and fixable to the eccentric shaft (8).

4. The device (100) according to claim 1, wherein the device (100) comprises at least one fan (10-2,10-3,10-4) located above the eccentric track (4), wherein the suction side of each of the fans (10-2,10-3,10-4) located above the eccentric track (4) is directed towards the eccentric track (4).

5. The device (100) according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the device (100) comprises at least one fan (10-5,10-6,10-7) located below the eccentric track (4), wherein the suction side of each of the fans (10-5,10-6,10-7) located below the eccentric track (4) is directed towards the eccentric track (4).

6. The device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the device (100) comprises a sensor (3), wherein the device (100) is configured such that during operation the supply mechanism is switched off as soon as the sensor (3) detects that a bag is in close proximity to the sensor.

7. The device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one or more of the eccentric shafts (8) comprise hexagonal rod-shaped material.

8. The device (100) according to claim 7, wherein the at least one eccentric shaft (8) comprises a partially machined hexagonal rod-shaped material.

9. Device (100) according to claim 2, characterised in that the drive motor (5) drives one of the eccentric shafts (8), wherein the other shafts can also be driven by means of drive wheels (6) which are pressed against each other and are made of rubber or other elastically deformable material.

10. Device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that said device (100) comprises at least one eccentric shaft (8) on which an eccentric (9) is mounted with a tilt.

11. The device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one eccentric (9) is circular and the eccentric (9) is eccentrically mounted on the eccentric shaft (8).

12. Device (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one eccentric (9) is non-circular.